Second to First
by Kagome Freak
Summary: High school junior, Kagome, accidentally sees a murder and is now stalked by the most wanted man in the country. Wanting protection she seeks help from the police who give her Inuyasha as her personal body guard. But Inuyasha has some secretes of his own.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything, so sad… I know

Summary: High school junior, Kagome Higuarshi, accidentally sees a murder and is now stalked by the most wanted man in the country. Wanting protection she seeks help from the police who give her Inuyasha as her personal body guard. But Inuyasha has some secretes of his own.

_**Second to First**_

_**Chapter One **_

"All right," the forty year old teacher said to the cast of the newest school play. "That will be enough for today. Good job everyone; same time tomorrow, so get a good night's rest." Groans of frustration singled out the newer cast members in response to that last statement.

"I can't believe you made me do this," grumbled the girl with black neck length hair held by a bright yellow hair band. "I thought you said this was going to be easy! No extra credit is worth all this work, even if I do pass Ms. Herino's class in the end."

Ms. Herino was a forty-year-old widower who spent her days teaching science. But she also had a passion for theatre, and there were even some rumors that she used to perform on Broadway until she quit for an unknown reason. And there were plenty of rumors to answer that particular mystery. Some said it was because in theater she was always reminded of the unfortunate death of her husband, who also performed on Broadway. Others said she simply got bored with acting, so she took up teaching.

But more than her elusive former life on the stage, what made Ms. Herino famous around school was the reality that hardly anyone passed her science classes. She was harsh with her red marker, and tests were even worse, mostly because of how bitter she behaved everywhere save in the school auditorium. This love of acting and the theatre therefore became her only olive branch to the students in the form of extra credit roles in school plays.

Many argued that drama had nothing to do with science, and some students even took it to the school board...but that got them nowhere. Since it was extra credit and it was voluntary, the teacher got to chose what it would be and the school board couldn't do anything about it since some teachers chose not to give extra credit in the first place.

"Oh come on! It isn't _that_ bad. Plus you don't have nearly as many lines as I do." Another seventeen year old girl replied brightly trying to cheer her friend up. Eri just glared at the raven-haired beauty.

"Well, so what? I still have to memorize some of these stupid lines," Eri said in defense. "Plus," she added, "We have two papers due tomorrow and I still haven't started yet. I hate being a junior in high school. We get so much homework!" She stomped her foot in a childish manner to emphasize her point.

Kagome just rolled her eyes at her friend. "Eri," she said, "We had two weeks to finish each of those papers, so I wouldn't be complaining."

"Well… I used those two weeks to plan everything," she pouted.

"Really? And where is your outline if it's all planned out?"

"In my head…"

Kagome giggled at her best friend's typical answer. She thought about the play and she honestly couldn't understand why everyone was complaining so much about being in it. It was a beautiful story about friendship and trust and how far you would go for love.

Kagome sighed as she packed her things in her big, bright yellow backpack.

She'd always loved acting. Just the process of allowing herself to become someone else for a few hours every day, of walking in someone else's shoes long enough to make an audience member laugh or cry, was enough to make it of great importance to her. Kagome glanced down at the script, already highlighted on nearly every page since she'd been given the lead part again...not really a surprise, though she still felt just as happy about it now as she'd felt the first time, and began the process of reciting her lines mentally for at least the tenth time that day.

She faced her friend, who had her back to her while talking frantically on her cell phone. Eri and Kagome always walked home together when they stayed after school. It was winter and it got dark fast, and the girls were equally afraid of being alone on the streets in the dark. They knew that nothing ever happened in the small town they called home, but they couldn't help being a little cautious.

"Uha… uha… uha…" Eri muttered in to her cell phone. "Ok, bye!" she closed her cell phone cheerfully and faced Kagome.

Eri's smile instantly vanished, replaced by a guilty look.

"Umm… Kagome, that was Hojo on the phone. He came back from his vacation with his parents and he said that he had a surprise for me." Eri stared down at the floor, her fingers fidgeting. "I…umm… he's waiting outside in the car to drive me over and show me the surprise that he planed for me." She finally lifted her head and looked at Kagome. "I'm so…" whatever Eri had to say was lost when Kagome interrupted her.

"Eri, it's ok. Go with Hojo, I'll be fine." Kagome stated her permission with a gentle smile on her face.

"Are...are you sure?"

"Yes, on one condition," Kagome's smile grew. "That you call and tell me every single detail about what happened."

Eri squealed in joy and jumped on Kagome to give her a bear hug. "Of course! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed in a rush. She grabbed her stuff in a hurry and jumped from the stage to run up the stairs to the door. "I'll make it up to you, I promise!" she yelled as she opened the door to the outside. The door shut closed with a soft thud behind her.

Kagome smiled and shook her head. _Young love. _Kagome swung her backpack straps over her shoulders and headed for the door.

As she opened the door, she was instantly greeted with a biting cold wind on her face. Shuddering from the cold, she right away pulled her jacket closer to her body for warmth. Coming to a stop at the end of the street, Kagome thought which way she should go. She could go her usual way which took about ten minutes longer or take a short cut. She stood there thinking when the wind picked up and blew harder, making her raven hair dance wildly in the wind around her face. Already freezing cold, Kagome decided it was wiser to take the shortcut home and spare her nose and fingers the frostbite later.

As she looked both ways and crossed the street, she thought about Eri and Hojo, and how life was truly a funny thing that no one could ever predict.

Hojo had been a new student last year and Kagome decided to befriend him and make him feel welcomed at the school. Hojo misunderstood her intentions, and instantly liked her. Everyone besides Kagome saw that Hojo had it bad for her. Her friends, Eri being one of them, thought they would make the cutest couple and tried to set them up many times. But no matter what they did Kagome could only see Hojo as a friend, even as a big brother, but never as someone to get romantically involved with.

That's when she had the idea to set Eri and Hojo up.

Kagome told Eri that she felt she didn't know Hojo well enough and asked Eri, being one of her best friends, to find out more about him for her saying that she was too shy to do it herself. Eri eagerly agreed, and before any of them knew it, Eri and Hojo were crazy about each other. Eri felt really bad and initially refused to make a move on Kagome's guybut that's when Kagome told them about her successful plan to get the two together. Hojo and Eri weren't mad for very long, and easily forgave Kagome for going behind their backs.

Kagome hurriedly made her way down the narrow sidewalk. The lamps surrounding the street kept flickering on and off, which frankly scared the heck out of her. The teen immediately sped up her pace, now almost running. She would have kept going if she hadn't heard a muffled scream coming from an alley near by. Debating weather to go check it out or not, her curiosity finally won and she started walking towards where she thought the scream came from.

The empty boxes and the dirty garbage cans in the already narrow alley made it nearly impossible for Kagome to get through with out making a sound. It was even darker there and it took a while for her eyes to adjust. Carefully stepping over what she thought was a dead rat, she plugged her nose with one of her hands hoping it would get rid of the horrible smell the place seemed to carry.

Not seeing anything that told her there was any life in this place she almost turned back, when she heard voices. As she came closer to her destination the voices became clearer and she could make out that one was a female, and the other male.

Kagome kept moving towards the voices until she faced an open clearing, where the two figures stood talking. Hiding behind the corner of a building so she wouldn't be seen, Kagome strained her ears to hear what they were saying.

"Please…..don't kill me. I-I checked his office and everything. It wasn't there!" The woman said desperately. "He fooled us all. He never had it in the first place."

Kagome tried to make out the features of either of the people but failed miserably. The woman had her back to Kagome and it was too dark to make out the man's features. But what did get her attention were the man's eyes. His deadly green eyes that looked so empty yet seemed to hold so much hatred she didn't know if he could be real.

She unconsciously shivered.

"Hmmm…interesting. It seems we have misjudged the situation." His voice was just as deadly as his eyes. So empty, so uninterested. "Well, no matter, you did your part of your job."

"Does that mean I can go? Am I free? And my son...you promised to help him!" The woman demanded, gaining a little confidence.

The man laughed. What was normally supposed to be a joyous and a happy sound was cruel and malicious. A shiver ran up Kagome's back, but not from the cold.

"Since when do you trust me? Tsk tsk tsk that was your mistake." Kagome heard the man shuffling and pull out an object from his back pocket.

"Plus, _Cheri,_ you know way too much." He pointed the object at her. "And we can't have that, now, can we?" Not waiting for an answer, he pulled the trigger of what Kagome now could see was a gun.

Kagome gasped in horror.

Dead.

Someone was dead.

A murder.

And she was the only witness.

She felt ill.

Kagome had to get out of there. The problem was her gasp came out too loud and the murderer heard her. She looked up and so did he, their gazes locking with each other.

Pale white from fear, all Kagome could do was think,_ Run, fool, run!_ But her feet would not obey her. Only the movement of a rat nearby got her out of her daze. With a small yelp she sprang into a run. Hearing muttered curses behind her, she knew he was following.

_Oh no, oh no, oh no! _ Every rational thought flew away from her mind; all she could think of was how to get to safety. Kagome tried to get her mind to focus. She tried to think of all the shows she watched where they told you what to do in a situation like this. _Not to panic,_ she remembered. Were they crazy? How could you _not_ panic in a situation like this?

She mentally went over everything teachers taught her about safety; still she had come up with nothing useful.

A soft clink against the ground brought Kagome out of her thoughts. She must have dropped something, but she couldn't risk looking back now, not with that man right on her tail. Without giving the lost object a second thought, the raven-haired girl sped up until she was practically flying across the pavement.

A brief glance behind her only confirmed her fears that the murderer had not given up, and already feeling her lungs heaving while her legs throbbed beneath her, Kagome knew she was running out of options. She needed an idea...a plan to escape, since she didn't think she could outrun him much longer. But no matter how hard she tried to get her brain to focus her mind was still numb from the earlier events.

In the distance she could see white and pink houses, which meant she was close to her neighborhood. Surely someone would see the chasing maniac behind her and call for help. Of course, she could always scream. And have the whole neighborhood wake up? Plus, what if no one heard her? And screaming would only make the man behind her more peeved than he already was. No, she couldn't risk that. There were too many 'ifs'. For now all she could do was hope to god that he would give up.

The pain in her legs was becoming unbearable but she stubbornly ignored it, desperately in need of safety. _One foot in front of the other_, she thought, _one foot in front of the other. _She was getting close to her house, but she couldn't have him know where she lived. Kagome decided to take a left turn to lead him away from her house. Unfortunately luck wasn't on her side. As Kagome stepped down from the sidewalk curb in a hurry, her foot caught under the other. Waving her hands frantically in the air trying to regain her balance, the teenager slipped and fell on the cold winter ground.

To try and run now was completely pointless since he was not even ten feet away. Even if by some miracle her legs did regain their strength back, just the thought of the man with his gun in hand shooting her to death made her knees weak all over again.

To say that she was scared was the understatement of the year. She was terrified. And to think it was all because she just _had _to stick her nose where it didn't belong. As they said, "Curiosity killed the cat," and how right they were.

The man obviously saw the affect he has on her and smirked in satisfaction. Taking his sweet time, he strolled toward his newest victim, wanting to make this as frightening as possible for her.

Feeling her life flash before her eyes, Kagome wrapped her arms around herself in protection and squeezed her eyes shut, praying to god for some sort of savior.

The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion. As she was getting ready to face death, god had mercy on her. Before she knew it, two American Pit Bull Terriers came running to her rescue. The one that was brown and had a white line going down its back bit the man's left leg making it impossible for him to get away while the other one, just plain black, bit the man's black knee-length coat.

Being caught off guard, he stumbled back in surprise and almost fell but caught himself just in time. Acting quickly, he roughly shook the dog off of his leg and ripped his coat from the other's teeth. Composing himself at once he sprang into a run and dashed into the dark night.

Afraid that if she blinked she would miss something, Kagome sat wide-eyed on the cold winter ground staring at the spot where the man had been a moment ago. Still deep in thought, she didn't notice that the owner of the dogs came up and said something to her. Only when she felt a hand on her shoulder did she snap out of her daze.

"Huh?" Kagome blinked stupidly and looked up to meet the gaze of a young woman. She had coal-black back length hair in a high ponytail and stared down at Kagome with kind, confused, brown eyes.

"I said, are you okay? You look so pale. I saw that man running off. I hope my dogs didn't hurt him too much. Is he a friend of yours?" She held her dogs by their collars.

"Oh I'm fine," Kagome replied with a weary smile and slowly stood up. "But that man is anything but a friend and he got everything he deserved so don't blame your dogs. If anything I should be thanking them. They saved my life."

The girl raised an eyebrow at Kagome but didn't say anything. After a moment of silence, Kagome offered her hand to the girl. "I'm Kagome."

Delighted at the introduction, the girl shook Kagome's hand. "Sango."

"Pleasure," she looked over Sango and thought the girl had to be somewhere around her age.

"So Sango, I've never seen you before. Are you new?"

"Yes, actually. My father is a military general so we move around a lot." Sango's tone seemed to sadden a bit. And honestly Kagome couldn't blame her. Leaving all your friends and having to make new ones all the time must be very tiring.

Pity danced in Kagome's chocolate brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I know that must be hard for you."

Not wanting anyone's pity, Sango tried to brush off Kagome's sad gaze. "Oh you know you get used to it really. You learn to deal with it and make the best of things."

"Yes, but don't you get lonely sometimes?" Blushing at the realization of how her question must have sounded Kagome was going to apologize but Sango beat her to it, not at all offended.

"Sometimes, but I have my younger brother, Kohaku, by my side so I'm never completely alone." A gentle smile tugged at Sango's lips.

"Really? You have a younger brother? So do I! His name is Souta, he's annoying as heck but at the end of the day…well actually, at the end of the day he's still annoying," Kagome laughed at her own joke, "But I guess deep down we love each other too...really, really deep down." Sango joined Kagome laughing.

Kagome sighed, earlier events already forgotten. "So what school do you go to?"

"Actually I'm starting at Alton High School on Monday as a junior. How about you?"

Kagome couldn't stop the smile that threatened to escape. "No way! I go there too! And we're in the same grade! Oh! Maybe we will have the same classes together. I can show you around if you want?"

"That would be great, thank you," she said sincerely.

"No problem." They spent the next few minutes getting to know each other better. Kagome spent most of the time chatting about their school and giving Sango the latest gossip. Sango had never been big on gossip and didn't really care that much for it, but she didn't mind listening to it now. She was too happy about the fact that she made a friend. Usually Sango moved away right before she made any friends, so over the years she got used to having only her brother, her dogs and mother for company. Of course there was her father but he was always away on his job.

Having made a friend right on the second day she moved was a huge thing, and she couldn't keep a goofy smile from forming on her lips.

Coming to a stop to catch his breath, he looked back to see that he was far away from anyone's prying eyes and those damn dogs. If it weren't for them, he would have easily disposed of that foolish girl and wouldn't be in this mess right now.

"Damn her," he cursed softly. How could he be so stupid as to let her see him at his job and then let her get away? He cursed again once more. Only a moron would let that happen, or a beginner and he was neither. What would his boss do if he found out?

No, he didn't even want to go there. His boss wouldn't find out about this little mishap, he would make sure to take care of it. End of story.

Plus he had more important things to deal with than some silly high school girl. His boss would be checking soon to see how everything went and he didn't want to tell him that their latest lead was a dead end. He had to figure out who could possibly know anything about that damn jewel before his next encounter with the boss.

Sighing, he walked towards where his latest victim laid dead. A soft crunching sound beneath his feet brought him out of his thoughts. Not wanting to give the object a second thought he kept going, but then hesitated. Being overly cautious and suspicious all his life was how he got to be as successful as he was today and he didn't intend to stop anytime soon.

Going back, he crunched down and picked up the cracked plastic card under his boot.

Squinting his eyes in the poor light, he tried to make out what it said. Luck was on his side because the card was a school ID. It must belong to the girl! Laughing, he stood up with the ID in hand. _I've got you now._

"Kagome Higurashi."

A/N: Well that's a first chappie! Yay! Please review, I would really like some feed back on this, and if you have any ideas I would love to hear them, because I'm not very sure my self what twist this story is going to take, or do I...?


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